How Concerned Should We Be About GMOs?

Dave Killion — September 23, 2012

The Future of Food had a recent showing in Langley, courtesy of a couple of resident ladies. Articles about the event emphasize that these women are ‘moms’, as does a website named for the daughter of one of the women (apparently this lends them extra credibility, or signals that they are more genuinely concerned about the well-being of others). Both women have made it clear that they are simply out to educate consumers so that people can decide for themselves what is best, and insist that getting the government involved is not one of their goals.

Don’t get me wrong. There are issues with GMOs, mostly surrounding patents, but unfortunately many activist critics have proven themselves untrustworthy. Happily, you can always turn to the libertarian journalists for accurateinformation.

Equally important, you can count on market forces to bring about the changes consumers demand. When it became clear that a number of consumers were concerned about the use of herbicides and pesticides in their food, producers rushed to provide clearly-labeled organic produce. When a sufficient number of consumers indicate they have a preference for GMO-free food, you can bet producers will respond. Until then, is it too much to ask these busybodies to stop making demands that will result in higher prices, when the rest of us aren’t concerned?